Hunky actor Josh Duhamel lights up the big screen these days starring in the blockbuster hit Transformer movies, but he says that his role on a soap opera was the first time he ever “felt really accepted.”

In an exclusive interview with Soap Opera Digest Duhamel discusses his return to All My Children as con artist Leo du Pres.

“Being on All My Children, it was the first time I ever really felt accepted and that people felt I was good,” Josh said about his role that started in 1999. “So much of my life was trying to prove to people that I was worthy, that I was good, that I could do a good job, because up to that point, I was shut down a lot.”

“It was just tremendous, the amount of education that I got from that show and the amount of experience that I got. What I think really helped me on that show is that you either have to sink or swim…. I will always be grateful to people like [Casting Director] Judy Blye Wilson and [former Executive Producer] Jean Dadario Burke.”

His character, in true soap opera fashion, went over a waterfall trying to save his love, Greenlee, but his body was never recovered. He returns on the August 4 show, which should impact the romance between Greenlee and Ryan, played by Cameron Mathison.

“Cameron was great,” Josh said about his buddy. “I mean, a lot of guys wouldn’t be as sort of accepting of Leo coming back, but he was really cool about it. Cameron’s always been a good friend of mine and he was always very supportive of me, too, on the show, right from the beginning. There was never any jealousy or anything; he was always really, really cool. It was a good experience.”

Check out the new issue of Soap Opera Digest on newsstands Friday to find all the juicy details about Josh’s exciting return to All My Children.